Home • Boeremia exigua MPI-SDFR-AT-0100 v1.0
Boeremia exigua growing in the lab.
Boeremia exigua growing in the lab.
Image Credit: Stephane Hacquard

This genome was sequenced as part of the 1000 Fungal Genomes Project - Deep Sequencing of Ecologically-relevant Dikarya, and more specifically as part of the Endophyte Genome Sequencing project, which seeks to sequence members of diverse lineages of endophytic species found in Arabidopsis, Populus and other plants to examine the functional diversity of fungi with a shared evolutionary history.

Boeremia exigua (syn. Phoma exigua) (Ascomycota phylum, Dothideomycetes class, Pleosporales order) is an ubiquitous soil-borne saprotroph, weak pathogen or wound parasite. Symptoms have been observed in stems and leaves of a wide range of host plants, as well as on rotting fleshy roots and tubers. These rarely observed pathogens are cosmopolitan, ubiquitous species on diseased and dead plant materials, and define frequently as weak or opportunistic parasites. Boeremia exigua is known to produce several phytotoxic compounds. Boeremia exigua isolates have been also isolated from asymptomatic leaves and can inhibit ascospore germination of Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, the causal agent of European ash dieback. The sequenced Boeremia exigua strain MPI-SDFR-AT-0100 has been isolated from healthy Arabidopsis thaliana plants grown in natural soil after surface sterilization of plant roots. The sequencing of this fungal isolate is part of a larger project aiming at sequencing the genomes of numerous phylogenetically diverse root-associated fungi from Arabidopsis, Populus, and other plant hosts for further comparative genome analysis. Unravelling the genomic signatures reflecting the adaptation of these microbes to the host cell environment represents a promising way to better understand how the endophytic lifestyle evolved in phylogenetically unrelated fungal species. Comparative genome analysis between different plant hosts, and between saprotrophic, mycorrhizal, and pathogenic fungi will provide new insights into the specific adaptations but also the conserved signatures associated with these different lifestyles.

Researchers who wish to publish analyses using data from unpublished CSP genomes are respectfully required to contact the PI and JGI to avoid potential conflicts on data use and coordinate other publications with the CSP master paper(s).

Genome Reference(s)